Annual ag show draws hundreds to St. Jean

For nearly four decades, the community of St Jean-Baptiste has been the place for “Canada’s Biggest Little Farm Show.” Now in its 38th year, St Jean Farm Days is still going strong.

The annual event drew hundreds of local producers and exhibitors to the Centennial Hall on Jan. 8 and 9, to connect with other farmers, ag specialists, and dealers from across the region.

Once again, visitors enjoyed the same great food that Farm Days is known for, including a continental breakfast and homemade cuisine featuring the region’s signature pea soup and open-faced sandwiches. This year, however, marked a significant change as the Knights of Columbus, who have prepared and served the food at Farm Days for 37 years, stepped down.

Gilbert Sabourin, who heads up the organizing committee along with Brunel Sabourin, Jennifer Sabourin, and Wayne Klassen, explained the transition. “Our parents were a part of the original Farm Days, and we’ve stepped up over the last few years. The average age of the Knights was getting up there. A lot of them moved away from town, so they disbanded the group last summer. This was their main fundraiser all those years. Anything they made went right back into the community, so it’s kind of the end of an era.”

St Jean-Baptiste has proudly held the title of “Soup Pea Capital of Canada” for decades. Although that market has since shifted to Saskatchewan, the region is still famous for its traditional soup. “Morris Bigway had a meeting with my dad, recipes for the traditional pea soup and the ham sandwiches were shared, and they did a fabulous job. They duplicated everything. Why fix something if it’s not broken?” Sabourin noted.

He says the frosty weather on both days of the event played a role in boosting attendance. “Most of the time, it’s correlated to the temperature. The colder it is, the more people attend. If it’s minus 35, not too many people want to start their grain augers and their grain trucks, so they come here,” Sabourin said. However, he also acknowledged that the demand for grain was high. “But now the elevators want grain. They have train cars they want to send down to the States in case there are tariffs coming. Lots of people are hauling grain right now.”

Visitors at Farm Days also had the opportunity to network with other producers and 51 exhibitors about what’s going to be important to their farm operations this upcoming season. One of the big sellers of the show, Sabourin added, is that attendees know they’ll get to talk to familiar faces.

“We work hard to get experts who can present on current topics that are relevant to local producers. The people who can help them are all right here. With some of the larger shows, such as the three-day event in Brandon, it might be harder to connect with your person on the day you’re there. Here, they’ll be there.”

The event also featured a full speaker program with topics relevant to the agricultural business. “You always want to hear about things that are current to the day. Something that’s been consistent for 38 years is that we always have a grain marketing speaker each day. We always have a weather-related speaker, and the rest is whatever is relevant to the times,” Sabourin said.

“It’s been the same format since we began. People want to know about the forecast in terms of market, weather, and insects, along with other things like the resistant weeds that we have coming up from the States. We bring all these experts here where people can get all the information they need and talk to local people about local issues. They get answers, right down to how to survive the current market. It’s really a great event.”

Reflecting on the event’s longevity, Sabourin said, “I never thought it would go on this long. If you looked within a 15-mile radius in 1986, how many farmers were there? And you look at 2025, and there are a lot fewer farmers. It’s a whole new generation of producers. Back then, I could have named every farmer in the room, and now I know maybe 10 percent of them.”

Despite the changes over the years, the essence of St Jean Farm Days remains the same. “We’ve had some of the same guys coming year after year, traveling from Portage la Prairie and Miami. They come for the speakers and the meals. And the timing is perfect. It’s the first show of the year; by the end of February, people are ‘meetinged’ out. It’s a familiar, low-key event. Pretty much business as usual,” Sabourin said.

Over the years, new features have been added to keep the event fresh and engaging. For instance, the farmers’ bar was introduced a few years ago. “We have the beer, and one year the cooler stopped working. I got a big round grain tub, filled it with snow, and people loved it. Now we do it every year,” Sabourin shared. Despite the additions, the cost remains affordable. “It’s still just $10 for breakfast, lunch, and all this learning. We kept it low-cost for all our exhibitors and guests.”

The purpose of the event has always been to connect local producers with each other and experts in the industry. “We wanted to provide a place where they didn’t have to travel very far to get the advice and the products they needed. It’s really a great event,” Sabourin concluded.